Warhol ‘Still Lifes: Part 1’ features works with traditional subject matter

An exhibition of Andy Warhol works, Still Lifes: Part 1, including 18 silkscreens and two graphite drawings revealing Warhol’s interest in the still life genre, will be on view from Saturday, June 9th, to Saturday, July 14th, at the Bobbie Greenfield Gallery at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica.

An opening reception for the exhibition is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 9th, at the gallery.

Bobbie Greenfield Gallery is hosting the exhibition with the assistance of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

The exhibition subject matter is very traditional — grapes, apples, cantaloupes, and Japanese flower arrangements, according to the gallery.

In the 1970s, two major compositional elements took center stage in Warhol’s work, the hand-drawn line and the representation of shadows cast by objects, says a gallery spokesman. The line appears most dramatically in Flowers, (1979) and is also evident in the other works exhibited from this period.

The shadow element would eventually become a subject for an entire body of work in “Shadows” (1979). The shadows become quite abstract and denote a distinct departure for Warhol from the representational images for which he had been largely known, according to the gallery.

Warhol’s casual approach to screen printing combined conscious intent with accidental results, according to the gallery. He explored color and compositional variations, which can be seen in Grapes (1979); a special edition of ten unique proofs.

Each still life suite is comprised of six images, varying in color. Flowers (Hand Colored) (1974) was made unique through the hand application of Dr. Martin’s aniline watercolor dyes.

Still Life: Part 1 focuses on the traditional genre of art, the still life, and how Warhol provocatively expanded the use of the unique edition print.

The upcoming second Warhol exhibition, Still Life: Part 2 ñ Hammer and Sickle, which is scheduled to open Saturday, July 21st, displays how the artist was able to use the same genre to make social and political commentary.